All Things Truly Wicked
by cherry-tree'sbutterfly
Summary: The first time he saw her, he was mesmerized. As the years pass, they grow older and she slips further and further out of his reach. It's probably for the best anyway, for all things truly wicked start from innocence, and Draco Malfoy was far from innocent.
1. Unfortunate Circumstances

So, the usual disclaimer, I own nothing.

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"All things truly wicked start from innocence." -Ernest Hemingway

Song: Climax by Usher

A young boy with white-blond hair was pulled along by his mother as she glided down Daigon Alley. They passed the quidditch shop and he saw that they had a model of the latest broom – the Nimbus 2000. Other boys his age crowded around it looking in awe through the window reverently whispering about the top speed of the broom and its many features. He longed to join them but such behavior was below him, as his father had repeatedly reminded him. No matter, he'd just ask for it for Christmas.

They entered Flourish and Blotts to purchase his books for his first year at Hogwarts. His mother gave him permission to wander about the store as she went to collect his texts. Draco meandered disinterestedly up and down the aisles – few of the shelves' contents caught his interest, and those that did could already be found in the extensive Malfoy library.

Draco wondered how much begging he would have to do to get a Nimbus before Christmas. Maybe if he behaved _extremely _well at the Parkinson's Ball, didn't put up a fuss as he usually did about the stuffy dress robes, and made nice with Pansy, his father would buy it for him.

He was startled out of his plotting by a voice loudly exclaiming over some book. He peeked around the shelf and saw a young girl, around his age, holding The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1). He supposed she was going to be a first year at Hogwarts as well. She was wearing a pretty white dress that swirled around her calves as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other. He looked disdainfully at her frizzy brown hair, mentally contrasting it with his own slick blond that was painstakingly combed and styled every morning. _Her _hair was loose down her back and fell in her eyes as she quickly scanned through the book. Draco stared at her wondering how she could show such interest in such a mundane book. _Definitely_ aRavenclaw, he decided.

She seemed intelligent enough, judging by her interest in the text. Much more than any of the other girls he knew at any rate. Pansy and Daphne would rather gossip about boys and compare makeup charms than browse books. Draco had been rather under the impression that all girls were of a similar mind. This one seemed different. He wondered if they could perhaps be friends at school. He was sure to be in Slytherin and the girl looked like she would be sorted into Ravenclaw – it was not uncommon for snakes to mix with eagles.

Suddenly the girl looked up and Draco found himself captured by dark brown eyes. He saw her rosy cheeks and pink lips. _Beautiful_, he thought to himself.

"Draco!", his mother called. He jerked and averted his eyes from the mysterious girl. "There you are Draco, come along now, we've got to get you fitted for your new robes." As his mother practically dragged him out of the store, he noticed a man and the woman standing at the counter. His mother did as well. "Muggles", she sneered "Can you imagine what your father would say Draco? _Muggles_ in Daigon Alley." Draco could very well imagine his father's opinion on the matter. He had made no secret of his disdain for their type.

"Mother, I've found the book!", Draco's mystery girl exclaimed as she ran over to the muggle couple. _Mudblood_. He felt his heart sink. There was no way a Malfoy could be associated with one of _them._

Later on as he lay in bed, Draco found his thoughts drifting to that girl again. _Come now Draco, she may be pretty and she may be smart, but she's still a mudblood and she will always be beneath you, not even worth your notice. Forget about her, she has no place in your world_, a voice very like his father's whispered in his mind. With that final thought, Draco drifted uneasily into sleep.

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"GRYFFINDOR!", the hat cried. Draco mentally swore. It was bad enough she was a mudblood, she just had to go and be sorted in Gryffindor as well, house of the self-righteous and idiotic.

"Draco Malfoy!" Upon hearing his name, Draco gave himself a mental shake. He straightened up and walked up to the stool with all the grace expected of a Malfoy. The hat was placed on his head barely a second before it cried "SLYTHERIN!". He smirked. Of course he was Slytherin, with his pedigree and family history, how could he be anything else? He sat next to Crabbe and Goyle and impatiently waited for Blaise to join him.

"Harry Potter!" _Bloody Potter, making me look like a fool, I hope he gets sorted into Hufflepuff. Bloody serve him right. _Draco observed curiously that Potter's sorting was taking an inordinate amount of time. He noticed him scowling at the hat and wondered if Potter was actually trying to argue with it. "GRYFFINDOR!", the hat finally declared. Draco scoffed, of course Potter would get sorted into _that _house.

After all the first years had been sorted, the headmaster stood and gave a speech. Draco was quite unimpressed. All that fuss about Albus Dumbledore, Supreme Mugwump, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and Grand Sorcerer, not to mention he was rumored to be the only wizard the Dark Lord had feared. If you asked Draco, Dumbledore was just a barmy, old codger who appeared to have gone colorblind judging by his offending robes.

Dinner was satisfactory, of course nowhere near the caliber of a proper meal at Malfoy Manor, but passable enough. As Draco ate he scanned the students in the Great Hall taking note of which purebloods had not been sorted into Slytherin. The Weasley boy of course, "blood traitors, the lot of them" he recalled his father saying, the Longbottom boy, and the Brown's girl. All three had been sorted into Gryffindor. He made a mental note to write to his father and inform him of the outcome of the sorting.

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Well that went better than expected. I'm hoping to see this story through to the end unlike my other story which kinda got abandoned... In any case, school finishes in two weeks so I'll have plenty of time to work on this. I hope to get the next chapter up in a week or two but I still haven't decided what events to keep from the original story and what I want to tweak. In the meantime, I would very much recommend the fanfic Pure by Hesaluti, it's one of my favorite Dramione stories. Any suggestions are welcome and reviews are greatly appreciated.


	2. Unhealthy Obsession

As promised, the second chapter.

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"A woman, especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can." - Jane Austen

Song: New Soul by Yael Naim

Walking through Daigon Alley with her parents for the first time. So many new things to see, so many possibilities. A bookstore. Finding her book. She looks up and steel grey eyes connect with hers.

Hermione woke up in bed with a start. She sighed. That dream again. She remembered those piercing grey eyes in Flourish and Blotts for the first time.

Hermione believed that the eyes were the window into a person's soul, and had wondered who that boy with the haunting eyes was. Of course, now she knew. _He_ was Draco Malfoy – Slytherin Prince, pureblood, and hater of muggleborns. She hadn't _actually_ met him yet, but ever since the day of the sorting, rumors had quickly circulated that the heir of the Malfoy line was now at Hogwarts.

He had made no secret of his disgust for those with "dirty blood" and muggleborns had quickly learned to avoid him and his followers. He seemed to take especial pleasure in tormenting her – she supposed it was because she was both muggleborn and a Gryffindor.

Luckily, the Gryffindors were fiercely protective of their own and the few times she had been harassed, both her year-mates and the older Gryffindors had been quick to come to her defense.

Apart from their protection, Hermione was treated as something of an outcast from the rest of the Gryffindor first years. Whereas the others preferred to mess around outside or laze around the fireplace, Hermione found solace in the library. They ridiculed her and called her a know-it-all, though never to her face. They were just as bad as the Slytherins she lamented.

Hermione enjoyed the silence of the library. In the books, she found new information about the fascinating new world she had become a member of. She was also driven by a need to prove herself – to prove that despite her blood status, she was just as good as any pureblood.

Another bonus to spending time in the library was that most of the Slytherins avoided. Unfortunately, most did not mean all, she realized as she crashed into Malfoy on her way out. She was surprised when he caught her before she fell.

"Watch where you're going mudblood", he sneered roughly releasing her. He glared at her and then brushed past without another word.

Hermione was shocked, usually their altercations were more drawn out, and ended with a hex or two. For Malfoy, that was rather sedate. She shrugged it off, maybe he was tired today?

Anyway, it was Malfoy. She wasn't going to spend her time worrying about him.

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Draco sighed. He hated coming across Hermione in the corridors. He hated that she seemed to show no recognition of their brief meeting at Daigon Alley. He hated having to ridicule her to keep up his image. And he _hated_ seeing those beautiful eyes of hers glisten and look at him with disgust.

She was fascinating. A mudblood who managed to do better in classes than the majority of purebloods.

And so Draco found himself spending another afternoon in the Slytherin common room. Pansy was blathering on about some girl who had dated some boy.

"Don't you think so Drakey?", Pansy simpered laying her hand on his arm. Draco swallowed the urge to shake her hand off and forced a smile.

"Of course." he replied though he had no idea what she was talking about. "I'm going to the library." The library, the one place where he could get some peace and quiet.

Without waiting for a response, he stalked out of the common room. As he walked, he wondered if _she_ would be there. He knew she liked spending her time in there...

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice said girl and crashed right into her. He saw her begin to fall and caught her by reflex. For a split second, she was pressed against him. He caught a faint scent of vanilla and something floral...

He quickly let go, pushing her away from him. "Watch where you're going mudblood." he warned her. Giving her one last look, he stalked past her, forcing himself not to turn around and look.

Draco was stunned to realize she had made somehow attached herself to the idiotic duo, Potter and Weasley. How dare she befriend the blood traitor and the boy who had spurned his offer of friendship in front of all their year mates. How could she forgive them for the cruel comments they had made? He had heard about her crying in the bathroom during Halloween after an especially cruel comment by the Weasel.

Seeing her with them day after day just made his anger grow. He began to take great pleasure in tormenting her, wanting her to feel just a bit of what she felt. He glared at her during classes, went out of his way to shove her in hallways. Draco was slowly developing an unhealthy obsession.

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That was slightly shorter than the first chapter... I'm probably going to speed through their next few years at Hogwarts. Their later years are when things start to get interesting. I wasn't quite happy with this chapter, but it's more of a filler than a main chapter so I made do with this. I'm going to try to write the majority of the next few chapters in Hermione's pov though for whatever reason I'm drawn to writing it from Draco's perspective. Please, please, pleeeease review! :)


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